Stanford backup wide receiver Jamal-Rashad Patterson "has been disciplined" for a blow to the face he threw at Cal defensive back C.J. Moncrease before Saturday's Big Game, coach Jim Harbaugh said Tuesday.

Harbaugh declined to say what Patterson's punishment was, but he said he has not been dismissed from the team.

Patterson was ejected from the game. He was not available for comment after practice Tuesday night, but his teammates said that when both teams converged moments after the coin toss, Moncrease provoked Patterson by spitting at him.

Harbaugh said that's "irrelevant" to the discussion. But he also said the incident was "very different" than the punch that Oregon's LeGarrette Blount threw at a Boise State player after a season-opening loss in 2009. He said Patterson made "an open-handed push" to Moncrease's face rather than a punch.

Cornerback Richard Sherman applauded Patterson's outburst. "When I saw it on TV, I was more impressed than when I saw it in person. He punched him in the mouth before we could. He set the tone for the game. They didn't understand the war they were about to get."

Blount was initially suspended for the season by coach Chip Kelly, but he was reinstated after 10 games.